Haymarket Books is pleased to announce the planning of a national speaking tour featuring Dahr Jamail, to coincide with the release of his forthcoming book Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq.

The first phase of the book tour will begin Oct. 15th and roughly follow the dates and U.S. regions below:

FALLUJAH — Strict curfew and tight security measures have brought difficult living conditions and heightened tempers to residents of this besieged city.

The siege in this city located 60km west of Baghdad has entered its second month. There is little sign of any international attention to the plight of the city. Fallujah, which is largely sympathetic to the Iraqi resistance, was assaulted twice by the U.S. military in 2004.

Will the U.S. ever leave Iraq? Official policy promises an eventual departure, while warning of the dire consequences of a “premature” withdrawal. But while Washington equivocates, facts on the ground tell another story. Independent journalist Dahr Jamail, and author Chalmers Johnson, are discovering that military bases in Iraq are being consolidated from over a hundred to a handful of “megabases” with lavish amenities. Much of what is taking place is obscured by denials and quibbles over the definition of “permanent.” The Bases Are Loaded covers a wide range of topics. Gary Hart, James Goldsborough, Nadia Keilani, Raed Jarrar, Bruce Finley Kam Zarrabi and Mark Rudd all add their observations about the extent and purpose of the bases in Iraq.